Ian Duncan, Baron Duncan Of Springbank
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Ian James Duncan, Baron Duncan of Springbank (born 13 February 1973) is a Scottish politician serving as a
deputy speaker Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain ...
in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
. A member of the Conservative Party, he was formerly Minister for Climate Change in the
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to Februar ...
and minister in the
Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...
. He initially joined the
UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
as a Scotland Office minister following the 2017 UK general election. Duncan was a
Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
(MEP) for
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
from 2014 to 2017. He is the only minister to have served in each of the UK Government's territorial offices.


Early life

Duncan was born on 13 February 1973 and raised in Alyth,
Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
, where he attended Alyth High School. He achieved a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
(BSc) degree in geology from the
University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
in 1994, and subsequently earned a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
degree in
paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...
from the
University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
in 1997.


Career before politics

During the late 1990s Duncan served as a policy analyst for BP's political affairs team, where he worked on the company's strategy for emerging economic prospects in post-communist eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 1999 Duncan became the deputy chief executive, and secretary for the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, where he developed policy and worked closely with the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, lobbying for the development of a regional management model that was later adopted by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
. From 2004 to 2005 he acted as the head of policy & communication for the Scottish Refugee Council, a charity which offers advice to those taking asylum within Scotland. Duncan served as Head of the EU Office for the Scottish Parliament in Brussels from 2005 and 2011. Thereafter he was appointed Clerk to the Parliament's European Committee and EU Advisor to the Parliament. He resigned from his position in 2013 to pursue candidacy for the upcoming European elections with the Scottish Conservatives, following Struan Stevenson's announcement that he would not seek re-election.


Political career


Member of the European Parliament

As a candidate for the Scottish Conservatives at the 2014 European election, Duncan campaigned on a platform of delivering reform in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
as well as an in-out referendum within three years. Duncan sat on three
committees of the European Parliament The committees of the European Parliament are designed to examine proposals in detail before the matter is dealt with by the full Parliament. They comprise Standing Committees and occasional Temporary Committees or Committees on Inquiry. Each ...
: the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Fisheries. He was the European Parliament's
rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...
on post-2020 reforms to the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. From 2014 Duncan served as the chief whip of the UK Conservative delegation. He was also a vice-chair of the Wine, Spirits and Quality Foodstuffs intergroup in the European Parliament. In 2017, Duncan was ranked as the 10th-most influential MEP on environmental policy in the European Parliament. and the 6th-most influential on energy policy. EurActiv ranked Duncan as the 15th-most influential politician on energy union in Europe in 2016. Duncan resigned as an MEP in 2017. He was replaced by The Baroness Mobarik.


UK Parliament candidate

Duncan was selected by the Scottish Conservatives as their candidate for Perth and North Perthshire in the 2017 UK general election. He lost to incumbent Pete Wishart, of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
, by 21 votes.


UK Government Minister

After he failed to win the Perth constituency, the Prime Minister's Office announced in June 2017 that Duncan would be granted a
life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
and thus become a member of the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, in order to take up his appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and for Wales. On 14 July, he was created Baron Duncan of Springbank, of Springbank in the County of Perth. Following a reshuffle Duncan was appointed a minister in the
Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...
and demitted office in the Wales Office. He retained his position in the Scotland Office until 2019. Duncan called out the UK government for failing to stand up for trans people at the PinkNews Awards 2022.


Personal life

Outside politics, Duncan maintains a keen interest in public speaking. He is the honorary president of English Speaking Union Scotland, previously serving as Chairman (2014–2017) and Speech & Debates Officer. Duncan is a former English-Speaking Union US Debating Scholar (1995). He retains links to academia, acting as an advisor to
University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
' Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research. Duncan is a fellow of the Geological Society. In 2014, Duncan was appointed to the board of advisers of the Schwarzenegger Institute at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, established by former California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
. He serves as President of the Northern Ireland Conservatives since his election to the role in 2022. He is also a patron of LGBT+ Conservatives and is openly gay.


Notes


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Ian 1973 births Living people Nobility from Perth and Kinross Alumni of the University of St Andrews BP people British charity and campaign group workers Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Scottish gay politicians LGBTQ life peers LGBTQ MEPs for the United Kingdom MEPs for Scotland 2014–2019 Scottish Conservative MEPs Scottish Conservative parliamentary candidates